"Carlos Quentin has been Paul Konerko's right-hand man for the heavy lifting of carrying the hit-and-mostly-miss White Sox offense.

On Sunday, he was Konerko's campaign manager for getting him to come along to the All-Star Game.

Quentin was shocked and surprised to be named to the American League All-Star team, and that reaction put him in sizable "join the club" company despite his good numbers: .253 average, 17 home runs, 49 RBI.

Konerko seemed like the Sox' most deserving choice, and right-hander Philip Humber has numbers worthy of going to Phoenix on July??12, too. But it was Quentin, whose competition among outfielders wasn't as strong as Konerko's among first basemen, who

received the good news.

''It's unexpected, honestly,'' Quentin said. ''They told me, and I was shocked. I thank the players that showed me enough respect to vote for me. That means a lot to me. At the same time, to be honest, the guy

carrying this team offensively all year was Paul Konerko. There are some mixed feelings there. There's some hope that he gets added. I hope the

powers that be can do that. He's the man on this team.''

Quentin ranks among the AL leaders in extra-base hits (third with 40), doubles (fourth with 23) and home runs (sixth with 17). It's the second time Quentin has been named.

With Adam Dunn (.165) in a 2-for-37 free fall, including 21 strikeouts, and Alex Rios (.218) in a 3-for-25 slump, imagine where the ''Carlos and Paul and slow to a crawl'' offense would be without Konerko and Quentin. With Konerko out of the lineup Sunday ­until he pinch-hit, the Sox were overmatched by the Cubs' Rodrigo Lopez."